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Lando Norris admitted that the 2025 Brazilian GP sprint shootout proved more challenging than he had anticipated. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, the Briton said the combination of unpredictable weather and changing track conditions made it difficult to forecast how the weekend would unfold.Norris secured pole position for the sprint race after topping the first practice session at Interlagos. He narrowly outpaced teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.023 seconds in FP1 and by 0.185 seconds in the sprint qualifying shootout. The McLaren driver had enjoyed relatively comfortable weekends in Austin and Mexico, while Piastri struggled to extract performance from his car.Norris described the sprint qualifying as highly competitive, with several drivers closely matched on pace. His late flying lap proved decisive in clinching pole. Despite the result, he noted that the car didn’t feel as comfortable as in previous rounds, an issue he has dealt with since the start of the season. He also admitted that if not for Piastri’s small mistake, the pole could have been a much tighter fight between the two McLaren drivers.Reacting to his pole position for the sprint race in Brazil, Lando Norris said:“It was a little bit tougher than I would have liked, close between a lot of cars. Mercedes quick on the soft. But it’s always tricky when you’ve got the medium and the soft and knowing how much to push. But we did the job we needed to do, which was to be fastest today. Trickier than Mexico. I’ve not been feeling quite as comfortable, but therefore it’s a great result. It’s only Friday, so another qualy, another couple of races to go, but it’s a good start.”“We’ll wait and see what tomorrow’s going to do. It’s meant to rain a lot in the morning, it’s meant to be incredibly windy, so make sure everyone brings their rain jackets. But no point worrying about anything for now. I’m happy with today. It was difficult. It was a good job. I put things together. Now, the focus will switch to tomorrow.”Andrea Stella refuses to rule out Max Verstappen as a threat to Oscar Piastri and Lando NorrisAndrea Stella believes Max Verstappen remains a strong contender for victory at the 2025 Brazilian GP weekend. The McLaren team principal expects the reigning champion to be in the mix for a top result, especially given the unpredictable weather conditions forecast at Interlagos. Stella added that the wet and changeable conditions could help level the playing field, bringing Verstappen back into contention alongside the McLaren drivers. He also predicted a close fight between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who were separated by just fractions of a second in both FP1 and sprint qualifying.Commenting on the close competition between the championship protagonists to Sky Sports F1, Andrea Stella said:“Well, the drivers have been extremely close in free practice one, extremely close in qualifying. I think that's the story of the entire season, in fairness, between Lando and Oscar. It's good and it's good that they are close and the car is fast. It's a good position to start some of the competitive sessions in this sprint weekend. But it's also close to our competition. Verstappen, we know, is Verstappen; he's going to be there tomorrow. So I think all the conditions are present for a very entertaining sprint weekend.”The weather forecast for the Brazilian GP weekend points to windy conditions, with a cyclone warning in the region potentially adding further unpredictability to the mix. As the championship battle tightens, Lando Norris leads the standings by a single point over teammate Oscar Piastri, with Max Verstappen 35 points adrift. For the sprint race, Norris starts from pole position, Piastri lines up third, and Verstappen will begin from sixth on the grid, setting the stage for a potentially chaotic and decisive weekend at Interlagos.
